- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,570
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 228
It’s election day in the Township of Russell for the second time in two months, a big effort to elect a mayor in the pre-Christmas rush. And even two elections may not fill all the council seats.
The mayoral race had to be cancelled just days before the Oct. 27 vote when incumbent mayor Jean-Paul St. Pierre died suddenly. But the rest of the township’s voting went ahead.
Now the polls are open in the byelection for mayor, by telephone and online. Voting began Friday and ends at 8 p.m. Monday, and by mid-morning Monday 27 per cent of the 11,708 eligible voters had voted.
Results were expected soon after 8 p.m.
“It’s been hectic,” said Camiré-Laflamme, clerk of the township that takes in the communities of Embrun, Russell, Limoges and Marionville. “You finish one (election) and you have to start another one, so we’re keeping busy.”
There are four candidates: Jamie Laurin, Pierre Leroux, Donald St. Pierre and Ronald Thériault. But Laurin and Leroux both won seats as councillors in the fall election, so if one of them wins the mayor’s job it creates a vacancy on council.
And that could lead to Election No. 3. In fact it’s not that simple. The council would have other options, such as choosing a replacement from the list of candidates in the fall election, or from the public.
Camiré-Laflamme isn’t thinking ahead to another election, though.
“We just want to get to Christmas,” she said.
Voter turnout was down sharply this year in the main Oct. 27 election, and she believes that is probably because there was no mayor to vote for. The turnout was 39 per cent, and the township’s long-term average is about 50 per cent.
The township has been working hard to pump up interest for the current byelection. “We put it on Facebook, on Twitter, on the website, on big screens outside, at the arena, and in the paper. We tried our best to put it everywhere,” Camiré-Laflamme said. But if people are not interested, “we can’t twist their arms.”
This is the township’s first experience with online and telephone voting. It began Friday morning and continued through the weekend, and by Monday morning it had all gone smoothy. Voting takes only seconds online, once a voter types in a PIN code that came in the mail, and his or her birthday.
Votes from Friday, Saturday and Sunday will not be counted until voting closes.
A bonus is that the township didn’t run the chance of having a bad December storm shutting down its voting day, or people choosing to shop for Christmas gifts instead. And residents can even vote from Florida.
Camiré-Laflamme was one of the township staff who went into four retirement homes Friday to help people vote there.
tspears@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1
查看原文...
The mayoral race had to be cancelled just days before the Oct. 27 vote when incumbent mayor Jean-Paul St. Pierre died suddenly. But the rest of the township’s voting went ahead.
Now the polls are open in the byelection for mayor, by telephone and online. Voting began Friday and ends at 8 p.m. Monday, and by mid-morning Monday 27 per cent of the 11,708 eligible voters had voted.
Results were expected soon after 8 p.m.
“It’s been hectic,” said Camiré-Laflamme, clerk of the township that takes in the communities of Embrun, Russell, Limoges and Marionville. “You finish one (election) and you have to start another one, so we’re keeping busy.”
There are four candidates: Jamie Laurin, Pierre Leroux, Donald St. Pierre and Ronald Thériault. But Laurin and Leroux both won seats as councillors in the fall election, so if one of them wins the mayor’s job it creates a vacancy on council.
And that could lead to Election No. 3. In fact it’s not that simple. The council would have other options, such as choosing a replacement from the list of candidates in the fall election, or from the public.
Camiré-Laflamme isn’t thinking ahead to another election, though.
“We just want to get to Christmas,” she said.
Voter turnout was down sharply this year in the main Oct. 27 election, and she believes that is probably because there was no mayor to vote for. The turnout was 39 per cent, and the township’s long-term average is about 50 per cent.
The township has been working hard to pump up interest for the current byelection. “We put it on Facebook, on Twitter, on the website, on big screens outside, at the arena, and in the paper. We tried our best to put it everywhere,” Camiré-Laflamme said. But if people are not interested, “we can’t twist their arms.”
This is the township’s first experience with online and telephone voting. It began Friday morning and continued through the weekend, and by Monday morning it had all gone smoothy. Voting takes only seconds online, once a voter types in a PIN code that came in the mail, and his or her birthday.
Votes from Friday, Saturday and Sunday will not be counted until voting closes.
A bonus is that the township didn’t run the chance of having a bad December storm shutting down its voting day, or people choosing to shop for Christmas gifts instead. And residents can even vote from Florida.
Camiré-Laflamme was one of the township staff who went into four retirement homes Friday to help people vote there.
tspears@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1
查看原文...
